Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Book 1

Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!

The Hobbit

Like every other hobbit, Bilbo Baggins likes nothing better than a quiet evening in his snug hole in the ground, dining on a sumptuous dinner in front of a fire. But when a wandering wizard captivates him with tales of the unknown, Bilbo becomes restless. Soon he joins the wizard’s band of homeless dwarves in search of giant spiders, savage wolves, and other dangers. Bilbo quickly tires of the quest for adventure and longs for the security of his familiar home. But before he can return to his life of comfort, he must face the greatest threat of all.

Scrappy Little Nobody

Anna Kendrick's autobiographical collection of essays amusingly recounts memorable moments throughout her life, from her middle-class upbringing in New England to the blockbuster movies that have made her one of Hollywood's most popular actresses today. Expanding upon the witty and ironic dispatches for which she is known, Anna Kendrick's essays offer her one-of-a-kind commentary on the absurdities she's experienced on her way to and from the heart of pop culture.

Anne of Green Gables

With all of the pluck and charm of its eponymous young hero, Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Spotlight, Midnight in Paris) delivers a spectacular reading of Montgomery's beloved bildungsroman. In moments both funny and bittersweet, McAdams' voice is imbued with the spark that has made Anne a much-loved symbol of individualism and cheer for over a century.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia

Lucy is the first to find the secret of the wardrobe in the professor's mysterious old house. At first her brothers and sister don't believe her when she tells of her visit to the land of Narnia. But soon Edmund, then Peter and Susan step through the wardrobe themselves. In Narnia they find a country buried under the evil enchantment of the White Witch.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets 16-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes: The Heirloom Collection

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes tales are rightly ranked among the seminal works of mystery and detective fiction. Included in this collection are all four full-length Holmes novels and more than forty short masterpieces - from the inaugural adventure A Study in Scarlet to timeless favorites like “The Speckled Band” and more. At the center of each stands the iconic figure of Holmes - brilliant, eccentric, and capable of amazing feats of deductive reasoning.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last 15 years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.

Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between)

In her first work of nonfiction, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood recounts her experiences on Gilmore Girls - the first and second times - and shares stories about life, love, and working in Hollywood. This collection of essays is written in the intimate, hilarious, and down-to-earth voice that made her novel, Someday, Someday, Maybe, a New York Times best seller.

Howl's Moving Castle

A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book and ALA Notable and Best of the Year in Young Adult Fiction, Howl's Moving Castle is by acclaimed fantasy writer Diane Wynne Jones amd was transformed into an Academy Award nominated animated motion picture by Hayao Miyazaki. On a rare venture out from her step-mother's hat shop, Sophie attracts the attention of a witch, who casts a terrible spell transforming the young girl into an old crone.

Neverwhere

Richard Mayhew is an unassuming young businessman living in London, with a dull job and a pretty but shrewish fiancée. Then one night he stumbles upon a girl lying on the sidewalk, bleeding. He stops to help her, and his life is changed forever. Soon he finds himself living in a London most people would never have dreamed of: a city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels. It is a world that exists entirely in a subterranean labyrinth of sewer canals and abandoned subway stations.

The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. No matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to stay out of trouble. But can he really be expected to stand by and watch while a bully picks on his scrawny best friend? Or not defend himself against his pre-algebra teacher when she turns into a monster and tries to kill him? Of course, no one believes Percy about the monster incident; he's not even sure he believes himself.

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo

In The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, Amy mines her past for stories about her teenage years, her family, relationships, and sex and shares the experiences that have shaped who she is - a woman with the courage to bare her soul to stand up for what she believes in, all while making us laugh. Down to earth and relatable, frank and unapologetic, Amy Schumer is one of us: She relies on her sister for advice, still hangs out with her high school pals, and continues to navigate the ever-changing boundaries in love, work, and life.

Bossypants

Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true. At last, Tina Fey's story can be told....

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Most people think 15-year-old Charlie is a freak. But then seniors Patrick and his beautiful stepsister Sam take Charlie under their wings and introduce him to their eclectic, open-minded, hard-partying friends. It is from these older kids that Charlie learns to live and love.

Warleggan: A Novel of Cornwall, 1792-1793

When Ross Poldark plunges into a highly speculative mining venture, he risks not only his family's financial security but also his already turbulent marriage. When his old flame, Elizabeth Warleggan, reenters his life, Ross is tested like never before. But soon his wife, Demelza, retaliates, becoming dangerously involved with a handsome Scottish cavalry officer of her own.

Virgins: An Outlander Short

Mourning the death of his father and gravely injured at the hands of the English, Jamie Fraser finds himself running with a band of mercenaries in the French countryside, where he reconnects with his old friend, Ian Murray. Both are nursing wounds, both have good reason to stay out of Scotland, and both are still virgins despite several opportunities to remedy that deplorable situation with ladies of easy virtue.

Publisher's Summary

"'You are sharing the Dark Lord's thoughts and emotions. The Headmaster thinks it inadvisable for this to continue. He wishes me to teach you how to close your mind to the Dark Lord.'"

Dark times have come to Hogwarts. After the Dementors' attack on his cousin Dudley, Harry Potter knows that Voldemort will stop at nothing to find him. There are many who deny the Dark Lord's return, but Harry is not alone: a secret order gathers at Grimmauld Place to fight against the Dark forces. Harry must allow Professor Snape to teach him how to protect himself from Voldemort's savage assaults on his mind. But they are growing stronger by the day and Harry is running out of time....

If you could sum up Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Book 5 in three words, what would they be?

Total Chaos Threatens.

Pivotal Volume in Series.

Never Saw it Coming!!!

This volume forms the crux of the overall Harry Potter saga, as the tension builds inexorably from the beginning of the novel (when only Harry, alone of the magical community, has firsthand knowledge not only that the Dark Lord has risen but that he has begun attacks within the muggle community) and the end (when....NO SPOILERS, but let's just say the cat is out of the bag on the Voldemort question). In between, Harry must endure not only the scorn and ridicule of those whom he once counted as friends, not only ceaseless mockery in the corrupt press, not only official legal action against him brought by corrupt and ignorant ministry officials...but also actual physical torture at the hands of at least one secret Death Eater/sympathizer who has managed to infiltrate the Hogwarts faculty.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Book 5?

Among the most crucial scene in this, the pivotal Harry Potter volume, are the attack on Dudley, the revelation of a secret witch who has been masquerading as a Privet Drive Muggle for Harry's entire lifetime, Harry's trial at the Ministry (with the unforgettable surprise appearance of Dumbledore, to the astonishment of the entire courtroom), Snape's worst memory explored, Rita Skeeter finally getting (thanks to Hermione) the comeuppance she so richly deserves, the intense drama on the stairway when the evil Dolores Umbridge attempts to expel the foolish visionary Professor Trelawney, the unforgettable scene in which the Weasley twins announce a change in their educational plan (during one of the final and most intensely satisfying laugh-out-loud chapters you will ever read, "Career Advice), and the final dramatic confrontation between good and evil within the Ministry, bringing with it, as it does, a complete reversal of feeling about Harry within the magical community at large.

This is a rollicking good read that stands alone as a superb novel for any age reader.

What about Jim Dale’s performance did you like?

As usual, Jim Dale creates additional magic within an already magical story by bringing each character to life, with never a wrong note, a too-lengthy pause, or a mispronunciation. But in this volume his performances of the female characters are standouts--especially Umbridge, McGonagall, Mrs. Figg, Hermione, Trelawney, and the "journalist," Rita Skeeter.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Out Of the Shadows

Any additional comments?

[PLEASE PRESS 'YES' IF YOU FOUND THIS REVIEW EVEN THE LEAST BIT HELPFUL! THANK YOU!!!!]

“...thoughts could leave deeper scars than almost anything else.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The fifth novel in the series, the longest, and by this time one that emerges into a fully-formed Potter Mania. The first Harry Potter move was released in November 2001 and went on to make nearly $1B US worldwide. This was the first book to be released AFTER the movies started to drop. From now on, it was going to be difficult to think of Harry Potter without seeing Daniel Radcliff.

Part of the reason I love the audiobooks: Jim Dale's narration, and returning to them gives me an opportunity to return to the pre-movie version of Harry Potter where the books, character, and place exist in words and not pictures (well except now there are now illustrated versions of the Harry Potter series).

What a story, what a story, what a story. I'm commenting on this book but I'm talking about the series as a whole. This will go down as one of the best series ever written in our time. A truly great example of the wanders the human brain can conceive. Hats off and applause for j.k. Rowling creating something so thorough, and awe inspiring that I wouldn't be surprised if at some point in our lives this series turns out to be based on something going on that we are not currently aware of. A truly magical story (no pun intended but now that I mention it, it might as well be) that every child should read. Inspiring courage in the face of ever growing danger, friendship when its easy to go your separate ways, and fighting to the death and beyond for what you believe in. The movies pale in comparison to this work of art, and the story told is better suited to drawn in your mind as opposed to a world bound by physical limitations. Jim dale brings the story to life in the most uncompromising of ways. He reads with the right amount of enthusiasm and is so good representing different characters it's as if there's a whole cast. A model story(series as a whole) and model voice performance. I will listen to this story again and again and again!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not my favorite book in the series, Harry can get quite angsty, but it is still delivers great entertainment and is one of the most necessary books in the series. Voldemort is back, clues to future events are hidden in the text, important events occur, important characters in the war are introduced, and key information is given. Harry's story moves on dramatically and he grows up significantly, turning from angry, angsty, troubled, and misunderstood kid, to the character he must become to take on what lies before him.

As usual Jim Dale's narration is spot on. I'm always amazed at how he is able to create so many different characters and keep their voices consistent throughout the entire series.

After listening to these books on CD for years, and then having to rip each of the disks to the computer to be able to listen to them digitally, I'm extremely excited to be able to listen to one of my favorite series's so easily. For a bit of comparison I pulled out those discs and found that this audiobook alone consisted of 23 separate discs consisting of 10 or more tracks each and cost $75 at the when it was first released.

there are a few differences between the books and the movies. I got addicted to Harry Potter when I had my back surgery and would read a book in 2 days, couldn't put them down. toughest part back then was waiting for the next book. . Harry Potter isn't just for kids, I am 55 and still love them.